Plan your vacation: Androidland opens in Australia
For all of its technical geekiness, the Android is fun. There is always an exciting new phone around the corner that trumps the last one and if you’re tech-savvy, you can have a different phone every day by flashing new ROMs and installing new launchers. It’s only fitting that now Android has its own playground. Androidland, the world’s first Android-themed store, has opened in Australia.
The store is the result of a collaboration between Australian carrier Telstra, Google, and device manufacturers Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and LG. Androidland is technically a single department in Telstra’s flagship store, rather than a stand-alone shop, but we won’t hold that against it.
Android devices are aplenty at Androidland. Phones and tablets are displayed in stations, where customers can give them a spin. This is smart: while Apple Stores have found success in letting customers play with devices, Android retailers like Best Buy often have lifeless dummy units on display.
One of the unique features of Androidland is the Spaceship. It’s a booth where customers can enter to Androidify themselves, play with a giant Google Earth display, and use a super-sized smartphone.
Android’s diverse nature makes it difficult to promote the best of the platform in one place, but Androidland does just that. Android is too often marketed in the US as a nerd’s platform, so it’s refreshing to see its fun side showcased. This is exactly what Google needs to do with Android, and we hope a version of Androidland makes it to the US.
(Source: geek.com)
